Lightning Bugs

Remember that post about my randomness? And how lucky I am to have found a guy that appreciates my randomness? Well it works both ways. Or you could say I'm contagious.

Conversation:

Brian, "El, where's the bug cage?"

El, "Why?"

Brian, "I want to catch some lightning bugs for the kids and bring them inside. I've looked everywhere but can't find the bug cage."

El, "K, you watch the kids, I'll find the cage." Thinking to myself, this is an awesome idea and Brian is an awesome Dad for coming up with it!

After combing the entire first floor I walked upstairs and said, "It must be in the kids room." Where it was, laying on the floor - in plain sight - by the humidifier. Classic.

So while I youtube'ed and watched with the kids every educational video on lightning bugs, Brian quickly collected 5 of the most unsuspecting lightning bugs in the area and brought them upstairs to the office.

Picture us: Brian sitting on the futon, me and the kids in the over-sized office chair learning all about lightning bugs and how they control the blinks of their abdomen to court the ladies via youtube and Wonderpolis. Meanwhile, sitting on the desk is 5 summer specimen stuck in a bug cage wondering what just happened.

Science lesson over, we turned off all the lights and the computer monitor only to find the bugs less than turned on. So we placed the open cage on the printer to see if they would light up and explore the office without us cramping their style. (We noticed all our computer lights are a perfect green. Coincidence?) Did I mention we agreed to set the 5 lightning bugs free in the office, in the dark? And that we haven't been drinking?

All we can see is one lone lightning bug slowly crawling around the printer. I think I see one in the corner of the room. We turn on the lights to discover that all five are out and exploring and that I have been staring at the smoke detector. Seriously thought it was a bug. Well at least we know the battery is still charged.

So now we are catching lightning bugs, putting them on the kids, in the dark, to see them glow. Now our conversation consists less of scientific explanations about bugs and more about, "Don't ever stand on the desk, Dad is just doing this to catch the lightning bug."

Brian agreed that the best plan was set them free inside, watch them glow, recollect them and set them free again - outside. And it worked. All five were gently caught and released. Aria was a squealing, bug-pointing sensation. We had little make-believe lightning bug conversations about, "Man, you would not BELIEVE what just happened to me." We now know that these were adult lightning bugs and are not eating and will likely be dead in a few weeks. Thanks youtube!

Needless to say, when it was all over we learned a lot, laughed even more and huddled around the master bedroom windows spotting fireflys in the dark corners of the backyard.

When Brian and I moved here six years ago we would take Anja and visit my grandparents most every weekend night. That first summer beheld lightning bugs like we have never seen since. Looking across the stretch of the yard in any direction resulted in a mystical natural firework show from 2 ft to 4t off the ground in every direction. It was amazing and we've never forgotten it, nor have we seen anything close to it since. Now we craftily catch clumsy lightning bugs and place them on delicate skin so they can laugh and giggle at the tingly sensation of a harmless summer treat.

Most (all) of the time we don't know what the hell we're doing, but we damn well know how to spend quality time with our kids - and most importantly - how to have fun. This combination of time and attention, love and enthusiasm makes me feel like we know what we're doing, and it's the right thing. That confidence - whether it's real or just a figment of my imagination (most likely) - certainly helps when we stumble through the more intimidating parts of the days, which are more often than not!